open.substack.com/pub/walterth...
27.11.2025 22:29
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"I categorically reject any notion that violence is ever justified. It is always an act of de-sanctification, of not being able to see the divine in the other." - Rabbi Michael Lerner
Why It's Better to Look Death in the Face
"When death awareness threatens us from the edges, we get anxious and defensive, but when we turn to face death together we gain perspective on the value of life and become more compassionate." open.substack.com/pub/walterth...
"...Eventually the great majority of humankind hangs on the cross of empire and, in an extended mystical understanding of suffering, with her species and elements our mother earth, too, hangs on the cross of industrialism. Without compassio, there is no resurrection." -Dorothee Soelle
D. Soelle: "...until the end of the world, as Blaise Pascal put it, Christ still hangs on the cross; namely in the victims of injustice, every one of whom is to be regarded as a sister or brother of Christ. Without compassio in this encompassing sense there can be no transformation of suffering.
"Little moments of consent make a life of ultimate consent possible."
"Reality presents itself to me, and I often miss it, deny it, avoid it, bury it, and forget about it. Or try. Important aspects of reality have this habit of not staying hidden. Thank goodness – except that it messes with our lives, this pesky, persistent intrusion of reality."
Starting a series on Substack (free), sharing some of the building blocks of a major project I'm working on. Now's a good time to subscribe for descriptions of a contemplative pathway to healing and maturing. Begins with my commitments to the process.
Street art in Ljubljana:
Here's the third and final part of my series reflecting on interviews with Ukrainian refugees:
In the second part of my series based on my interviews with Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw, I observe the biggest surprise of the interviews:
Here's the first of three parts sharing what I'm learning about trauma listening to the experiences of Ukrainian refugees (in Warsaw):
After a week in Warsaw listening to interviews with Ukrainian refugees, I reflect on how this affected me:
Congratulations, Marc!
Or:
- a person who epitomizes the immoral absurdity of our present economic system
- a person who could save millions of lives with his present wasted wealth but chooses not to
Let's stop reinforcing that life's a competition.
Can we please stop referring to Musk as "the world's richest man" as if he were the gold medalist in the capitalist Olympics? How about:
- a person who has much wealth and no human compassion
- a person who symbolizes the gross lack of equality in our world...
In an earlier post I advocated the value of texts commanding genocide remaining in the Bible. Below I clarify why (spoiler: so we smarten up and talk about the evil)
Feels like I'm doing that all day! Good to see some energized responses starting!
"I remember the basic aikido stance: readiness was being balanced, soft and relaxed even when preparing to meet an attacker. There was a deep rightness to this. I know a soft and open heart is the best posture to face all the challenges of the world right now."
I took it as inclusive of all of us dear ones...
My annual post of "top ten films" (for 2024) is up and ready. Not too much correspondence with the Oscars. 😊
Apparently a lot of complaints about it down in Mexico too...
2014 - Bessel van der Kolk stresses the importance for trauma healing of "knowing what you know and feeling what you feel"
1979 - John Bowlby writes an article, "On Knowing What You Are Not Supposed to Know and Feeling What You Are Not Supposed to Feel
Phrase makes even more sense now...
Reposted this because of the contrast between Rohr's article and Sean Feucht's rant ("crazy witch lady") about Bishop Budde - the difference between someone who needs to be in control and one who doesn't.
